Category: Travel

Sjogin’s resting comfortably in the slip in the south shed. The keel still weeps in spot, with one persistent leak around an old keel bolt. It’ll take a while for the timbers to return to normal. For now it’s about ten pleasant hand pump strokes per day.

There’s been real progress on the spars. While your writer was comfortably ensconced in the hills of Tuscany in early October, Beaton’s again stepped into the breach and stripped and faired the spars. When we got back I finished the sanding and as of today, there are two sealer coats applied. First coat of varnish this weekend.

The cockpit sole is moving along at my usual pace. The oak sole beams have been fitted and the initial sole pieces have been milled by Paul. With any luck the stove may be in by Thanksgiving.

Speaking of which, we gave our own thanks last week for recovering from Sandy two years ago on October 29, 2012. Thankfully no hurricanes this year (so far) but old Mister Northeaster may have a few lessons to give us this Winter.

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All sanded and ready for the first coat of Interlux sealer. No serious defects found after many years of varnish. The wood is close grained clear fir. Tough stuff.

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After the first coat. It will get darker after another coat of sealer and a half dozen coats of Epifanes varnish. And endless sanding….

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Slowly rehydrating. Nice to be able to deal with her weeping by hand pump. There’s a sump pump on board if needed.

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All of the old rivet holes have been plugged and sanded. The ceiling will cover most of them.

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Getting greener all the time. The rub rail and letters ageing nicely.

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And now, something completely different:

Our bit of Tuscan paradise. We stayed here with seven others, exploring Florence and San Gimignano which was a mile or so away. Terrific views of vineyards and distant hills. Bliss for a week.

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That’s San Gimignano on the next hill. Classic Etruscan hill town with lot’s of places for a glass of Vernaccia or dinner. We had fine dinner at a restaurant on the edge of the town walls with sweeping views of the countryside and full moon.

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Here’s five of us wandering the streets of San Gimignano. The others were waylaid by shops and such.

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Touring a local vineyard for a tasting and later consumption of their Vernaccia. Yes, that’s San G in the background.

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We spent two days in Paris at each end of the trip. (You have to change planes somewhere.) This was at a string concert of the Four Seasons at Saint Chapelle on the Isle de Cite.

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Finally, a bit of Beaton’s activity. Paul Smith giving an old fiberglass dinghy a new life. The two new Duckboats are getting freshened up before storage.

and making steady progress on Sjogin. First a few pics are from our visit which also featured the celebration of forty years of WoodenBoat magazine. Hard to believe all that time has gone by. I started following the traditional wooden boat revival with John Gardner’s monthly column in the National Fisherman. That lead to the Sea Bright skiff Puffin, which lead to the tabloid cruiser Caprice, then to the Bullseye Caroline and then finally to Sjogin in 1985.

There’s been real progress on Sjogin, with the second coat of primer to the new wood applied last week. After sanding and another coat of primer, then two coats of finish complete the above deck work. Once the rails, house and coaming are finished, then the deck gets two coats of finish paint. And then on to the hull. And on and on.

Lots of Duckboat building activity at Beaton’s. The first one’s off the jig and work is started on the second one. One of my favorites at Beaton’s, the catboat Irene Tasay, has been rescued and launched.

Don’t forget to check the Flickr feed and FaceBook for other Sjogin pics and news.

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Julia and the Silent Maid. Barnegat Bay was well represented at the show with Myth and Vim also in attendance.

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Not at the show but at a coffee shop on the way. Looks like she works for a living.

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Vim in all her glory. Looking forward to seeing her under sail on the Bay. She sports a rather large rig.

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Schooners at Sunset. Taken during the 40th Anniversary Party for WoodenBoat Magazine. Fine event with lots of stories.

I found out at the party that Jon Wison, founder of WoodenBoat Magazine is a regular reader of this Blog. Delighted to learn this. Who knew. And thanks to all readers of Hove to off Swan Point. Still posting as slow as I can.

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Brand new Arey’s Pond Catboat out for her maiden sail. Very happy owners on board.

Another fine WoodenBoat Show at Mystic. Hope to bring Sjogin next year. It would be a treat to heave to next to the Morgan.

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Cockpit sole progress. One inch scant teak boards. There will be more pieces added to match the planking. The new seats will cover the forward corners and be a place to store gear.

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The new wood looks great with a coat of sealer but it will all be painted to match her pre-Sandy look.

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The new hatch sits on the deck. Sanding is next.

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Sanding between coats of sealer. It’s all been done by hand so far. Zen like work so far.

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First coat of primer on the new wood. She’s starting to look like her old self.

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The white really sets off the bright rub rail. Julia to start sanding and varnishing the rail soon.

The painting will continue until all of the house, coamings, rub rails and such are done. Then the pleasure of painting the deck. When that’s done, the hull painting and lots of sanding will begin.

I think we’ll be able to schedule a launch in late August. The spars still need refinishing, the cabin sole needs to be re-installed, the cockpit sole and seats need fashioning etc, etc. With all of that we hope to set the date for a commissioning party in mid September.

Next post will have an update from Beaton’s. Till then…

for the WoodenBoat Show. Yet another great time with new and old analog and digital friends. Here’s a link to a Flickr Set.

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Speaking of digital friends made analog, meet Pierre, a Sjogin fan from France. he recognized me and introduced himself. It’s always a treat when that happens. That’s Olin Stephens Bolero in the background.

And there’s been a bit of progress on Sjogin.

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Managed to get the rest of the toe rail off along with the vent plate and molding around the mooring bit.

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The mast coat ring and the house molding came off in pieces. The rest of the cabin moldings remain to be removed and then on to the coamings. Before they’re removed I’ll make a template so the shape remains the same. (Except for the 53 year old bumps and humps.)

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Here’s the view from aboard Sjogin. The Port side’s not too bad but both sides are probably an inch or so lower after decades of stripping, scraping and sanding.

That’s my friend Joe’s boat in the pit ready for another Summer of fun.

Had a consult with Paul Smith this week and Sjogin should be back in the shop in a few weeks for the next round of Beatons (and Paul Smith) magic.